The Kasav Sofer, zt”l, zy”a, says that the blowing of the shofar during Elul reminds us of the objective of shapru ma’aseichem, make your ways prettier. (Shofar and shapru, to be pretty, share the same root.) One of the ways to improve is to work on our perennial battle with the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, and to more often enable the yetzer tov, the good inclination, to get the upper hand. The first task to accomplish this is to recognize what our personal yetzer haras are. As the Mishna says in the beginning of the fourth perek of Pirkei Avos, “Eizehu gibor? Hakoveish es yitzro – Who is mighty? He who conquers his own inclination.” There isn’t much of a trick in not talking in shul, if that is not our temptation. For us, it might be screaming at home, saying insensitive words, looking at forbidden sights, or saying untruths.
Rav Twerski, zt”l, zy”a, teaches that sometimes it’s difficult to know if something is stemming from the yetzer hara or from the yetzer tov. Certain people who react harshly because of righteous indignation might be acting with proper zealotry or they might be succumbing to the awful yetzer hara of machlokes, strife and dissention. He offers a wonderful litmus test to determine if any proposed action is emanating from a good place or from the sitra achra, the side of tumah, contamination.
Rav Twerski cites a Medrash in Bereishis on the pasuk, “V’yar Elokim es kol asher asah, v’hinei tov meod – And Hashem saw all the He did and it was very good.” The Medrash elaborates: Tov, good, refers to the yetzer tov. On the other hand, meod, very much, refers to the yetzer hara. Rav Twerski wonders why we would refer to the yetzer hara as ‘very good.’ He explains ingeniously that the word meod means ‘very much’ and the Medrash is teaching us that anything that we want to do ‘very much’ should be suspect. As Rav Twerski says, anything ‘too’ is suspicious. That’s not the way that the yetzer tov operates. He doesn’t push us to do things. If we feel a real urgency to get involved in something, when we feel that something is pushing us, we should at least investigate whether it is coming from an unwholesome source. This is an incredible forensic device to uncover our true motivations in any given action. When using this method, we might find to our surprise that we are being motivated by a desire for koved, pride, or a subliminal need to even the score or, even worse, for vengeance.
I’d like to share another piece of advice when it comes to the yetzer hara. When we are trying to fashion our To-Do-Better list for the New Year, often times we face what seems to be a brick wall. We would like to say that we will get up early for minyan, but we feel that it’s beyond our bechira point. We just don’t think we could do it. Or, when we think about not raising our voice in the home, we think regretfully that we’re just too old to change. We must know that the Gemara teaches us, “Yitzro shel adam misgaber alav b’chol yom v’im ein HaKodosh Baruch Hu ozro, eino yachol lo – A person’s inclination prevails upon him every day and if Hashem wouldn’t help him, he wouldn’t be able to prevail.”
This means that every time a person initiates a battle against the evil inclination, Hashem offers him assistance. When we make the mental calculation of whether we can improve, we tend to think only about our ability. Then, we might correctly assess that it’s beyond our ability. We must add to the equation Hashem’s assistance and, with that, it changes the whole picture. Then we should be fortified that we will be able to succeed and accomplish our desired improvement.
I hope these strategies will help us in our mission to better ourselves and in that merit may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
